Caution. Social Media Ahead.
Posted on | July 27, 2009 | View Comments
By definition, Social Media is user-generated content.
My blog posts are part of Social Media.
Pictures that you put up on Flickr contribute to Social Media.
Comments posted by readers on this blog and the discussions that happen between them via these comments are also content.
All this content becomes part of Social Media.
Everything Internet and mobile users post, upload, share – it all goes into creating Social Media.
Why is this a concern for brands?
Well, for a long while brands spoke to people.
In the hope they will listen, feel and do, as brands wanted them to.
Life has moved on since.
People don’t listen as much anymore.
They talk. They opine. They influence.
Increasingly they create Social Media in this process.
It’s not that people never did this earlier.
It’s just that it has become ridiculously easy for them to do so now.
So if they like or dislike ‘anything’, they can discuss it ‘anywhere’.
Like on the comment section of this blog.
And today, that ‘anything’ can easily be a brand.
Tables turned.
So now, instead of talking to people, brands need to talk with them.
Conversations – as the lingo goes.
That should be easy, no?
There is just one problem.
Who on earth wants to converse with a brand?
The last time, eons back, a representative of a washing powder company wanted to converse with me, I sent my house-help out to tell him I wasn’t at home.
It hasn’t changed since then, at least for me.
So how does a brand converse with people who are more vocal, more opinioned and less interested in ‘conversing’ with them.
By ‘enabling’ Social Media?
Suppose I use an Internet messenger to chat with my friend.
The last thing I want is a telecom brand to barge in with offers, information or questions in the middle of my chat.
But if that Internet messenger itself comes courtesy that telecom brand, I don’t mind.
Maybe I’ll even like it.
Yes, it is an extremely basic example.
But I think the principle works.
I don’t want Facebook to be overrun by brands.
I don’t want to receive tweets from my favorite jean manufacturer.
I hate every promotional text message I get.
I hate every mass mailer that hits my inbox.
Hell, I even delete weekly updates from news sites that I myself signed up for.
How have brands reacted to the new me?
To begin with, they all have websites.
They are gunning for Twitter accounts.
They are starting ‘fan’ pages on social networking sites.
I see their banner and text ads when I access my Internet mail.
Etcetera. Etcetera. Etcetera.
Do these really draw me?
Honestly, no.
What draws me?
Websites are useful – if I am seeking the information they provide.
Like news, tariff plans, handset details, vacation locales, software updates and downloadable e-papers.
Or if the tools they hand out actually help me.
Like downloadable apps, music, e-books, loan calculators, travel planners, mutual fund performance charts.
I like it when brands tell me something I didn’t know, or offer something useful.
Not when they want to sell me their history or their offers.
Especially in the middle of a conversation I am having with someone else.
As my blogger friend lsbhat pointed out via email:
Brands need to find ways of being useful.
It’s not about being ‘Viral.’
There is a huge element of ‘voluntary’ activity when it comes to the web.
You can’t ‘create’ a viral, force me to ‘view’ it and ‘pass’ it on to everyone in my contact list.
He cites the example of Eco Drive by Fiat.
A great example of being useful to the consumer and making him/her turn to the brand voluntarily.
Indeed, brands need to react differently to the Social Media Revolution.
Brands need to be CAUTIOUS.
The web, as a medium, can be as punishing for a brand as it can be rewarding.
Example?
Today we are seeing aggregation of social media reactions in the same place.
Assume I blog my criticism of the way an airline handled my baggage.
Someone links to this post.
I comment on another post on the same topic.
Someone else comments on the same with his or her own experience.
Someone starts a complaint page on the web.
Now here’s the twist.
There are tools that will collect all conversations linked to my post across different social media platforms and collate the same beneath my post.
That means I don’t need to do much at all.
All the criticism automatically gets added to mine and collects in one single place.
Echo from JS-Kit, expected to roll out any day, is a striking example.
So if the airline was hoping I was a solo voice, it needs to think again.
The nature of Social Media demands that brands be far more cautious, wary, smart and willing to learn the new rules of engagement.
It is no longer the case of a single consumer looking at a TV set.
It is no longer a single voice over the toll-free complaint line.
Go deal with that.
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July 27th, 2009 @ 8:06 am
Very nice, lucid, thought provoking post. And thanks for the reference and the link:)
July 27th, 2009 @ 9:51 am
Thanks for the inputs mate
July 27th, 2009 @ 10:11 am
You say the word is conversation?
I say the buzzword(s) is – Interactive. Engage. Riddle. Please. Confuse. Connect. Uplift. Support. The list is still long.
In a world of hyper communications and instant solutions, the brands need to go back to the good old days of fence talking in the backyard.
Be like neighbors. Share. Exchange. Belong.
I completely agree with your friend; brands do need to make themselves useful.
And another very old formula holds true here in the midst of near talismanic social evolution – be entertaining.
Enough for me to want to listen to you even when I don't agree with you.
I think brands just need to become people.
Strangers of the same species usually listens to you with lesser apathy
July 27th, 2009 @ 10:14 am
The idea of empowerment through social media is intoxicating. I remember this line from the movie Spiderman – with great power comes great responsibility. Hope people use all these tools towards a larger benefit, for the 'aam admi' (ordinary man) rather than making their own mileage. Cheers to social media. And a frown to the fools who'll use it irresponsibly. Nice post.
July 27th, 2009 @ 10:29 am
Thanks for the views guys
July 27th, 2009 @ 11:15 am
You need to read: What Would Google Do?, Jeff Jarvis.
http://www.buzzmachine.com/what-would-google-do/
He goes into great depth on this premise.
July 27th, 2009 @ 11:38 am
Will do. Thanks Bikram
July 28th, 2009 @ 10:57 am
Hello Rahul,
Yep, brands need to be cautious.
Realise that the brand is what the target audience perceives, and perception is reality.
Key words here are Transparency and Centralisation. Transparency is the “new” Marketing.
Brands don't perse need to communicate in a oppertunistic way, but in a helpful way which creates a deeper relationship. Unconsciouscly, the customer will make the link.
Best regards,
Gianluigi Cuccureddu
July 28th, 2009 @ 2:28 pm
Hi Partner
Your style in this one reminds me of De Bono
Interesting premise, brands in India have just begun to experiment, but something tells me soon there could be massive overkill here as well
Nobody wants to converse with a brand, actually nobody wants to see a TVC as well, maybe the same principles of creating interest and a common platform would serve us well here
For e.g. brands around cricket create interesting forums for fans to interact and participate and then take a backseat
For social media to be effective from a marketing perspective, perhaps its time brands learnt to be 'backseat' drivers
Sorry went too long without a pun, you know me
Thought provoking post!
Cheers
Vinay
July 28th, 2009 @ 10:49 pm
Hey Gianluigi and Vinay,
Thanks for the interesting inputs
July 29th, 2009 @ 12:31 am
Well said, Jo!
Surely, a sign of things to come… and soon.
still a somewhat niche-phenomenon, though, with computer/net penetrations being what they are?
but, a definite wake-up call for apun-log… trying to think of new ways to communicate/engage the clonsumer, while stretching an ever-thinner rupee.
August 1st, 2009 @ 12:16 pm
Thanks for stopping by Anand
August 1st, 2009 @ 12:50 pm
Some answers from LinkedIn – again I love the quality of responses I get from this site.
1.
The greatest risk is actually not participating in social media. Traditional outbound marketing used by companies such as McDonalds is not going to work nearly as well anymore. That's because people watch less commercials and find their news online. Link building, or inbound marketing is what is going to work from here on out. It is the process of driving traffic to your website. Social media is a necessary tool to accomplish this task. This video will tell you all about it:
http://www.hubspot.com/archive/google-adwords-p...
Sean McVey
2.
It is irrelevant whether or not the brand managers choose to be cautious – they are not in control. As others have noted, the riskiest thing is to do nothing, because others will fill the void for you, commenting on your brands and to some extent hijacking your messages. Better to to be injecting the appropriate spaces with positive, responsive material, than to be sitting back debating whether to play or not.
Rob Duncan
3.
A useful link about the way to approach social media.
You definitely need to perceive before you can protect, project and participate. A thorough audit of your company/brand/product/service social media space is necessary (it's likely to muchmore than facebook and Twitter – believe me). What are people saying, where are they talking and what is the impact of those conversations? Then you are in a position to think through what you want to do.
As regarding general caution ROI can also mean Risk of Inaction. Start small and experiment….
A useful link: http://econsultancy.com/blog/4293-social-media-...
Jonathan Moody
4.
Rahul:
Not if they are involved in social media
Great companies with great brands have been using social media for their own benefits great example is Zappos that ended up being sold close to a billion dollars and their call of fame was mainly using twitter and of course their base was great customer service and a different culture that they were able to share and brand using social media
Brands need to be cautious of social media ONLY if they ignore it, conversations and discussions are taking place online on the brands and companies either they share in them or not, if they do and treat people with respect, if they follow on customer service and where it could have gotten bad and fix it properly they grant themselves evangelists to sing their praise if not it could be the reason of their demise. My 2 cents.
Sahar Andrade
5.
“A new study released by enterprise wiki provider Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group shows that the brands most engaged in social media are also experiencing higher financial success rates than those of their non-engaged peers. To determine this relationship, the study focused on 100 companies from the 2008 BusinessWeek/Interbrand Best Global Brands survey and the various social media platforms they used like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, wikis, and forums. Although it's difficult to prove for certain that the companies' involvement in social media has led to their increased revenues, the implication behind the new data is that it has.”
So yeah, all in for social media.
Links:
* http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/new_study_...
* http://www.engagementdb.com/downloads/ENGAGEMEN...
Pierre-Yann Dolbec
6.
There are some industries that will face greater challenges that others. those in healthcare, in the financial sector, they have bigger regulatory and legal issues to deal with than a company that sells books, or soap.
But in general, any company avoiding social media right now is avoiding growth.
Cheers,
Erica Friedman
Yurikon LLC
Intelligent Business Promotion
http://www.visualcv.com/elfriedman
7.
Recent whitepaper titled “How to Avoid a Social Media Disaster”: http://www.451marketing.com/Free-White-Paper-Di...
Links:
* http://www.451marketing.com/Free-White-Paper-Di...
AJ Gerritson
8.
Social media does pose certain risks from the perspective that anyone can now publish negative information about your company and they often don't have the same professional pedigree of journalists.
However, that risk is only heightened if you're not paying close attention.
For example, many companies have Wikis on Wikipedia that are poorly written and reflect poorly on the company, however the company PR team has never seen the Wiki – they don't even know.
With the right approach, they could rectify the situation, but by ignoring the medium, they actually heighten risk
Many social media outlets for companies (Facebook pages, corporate blogging, Twitter feeds) actually produce less risk, because the company is publishing content directly for their audiences and have complete control.
But they'll need to balance that control with audience needs if they want to win the social media game.
Clarification: So DOING social media is risky (slightly)
But IGNORING social media is VERY risky
Sorry it took me so long to get to the point.
David King
9.
The most important thing brands need to be cautious about when delving into Social Media: honesty. The whole point of social media is connection and transparency, so brands jumping in must be quick to examine their motives and make their connection fit the audience, not try to manipulate the audience to fit them. As long as the brand stays real, their results should produce growth.
Linda Lullie
10.
Hi,
We all know our SWOT right? well Social Media can be a Threat but it can properly managed be an Opportunity and even a Strength.
Tyrone Tellis
11.
Yes. Brands really need to be cautious of Social Media since it can act reverse also sometimes, if the messaging goes wrong. You must know what to project and what to protect.
It's recommended that you have a well-devised strategy before you take a plunge into social media marketing. Participate in forums intelligently, tweet regularly, expand professional network on LinkedIn etc.
Raina Trivedi
12.
Just remember a few things: it is a public space with a high degree of transparency where everyone can say anything about you and make it visible to the rest of the community. It is not that brands needs to be cautious, they need to understand the shift of power introduces by these new tools and learn how to use them correctly.
Links:
• http://wiki.beingpeterkim.com/
• http://mashable.com/2008/07/23/corporate-social...
• http://www.77agency.com/
Guillaume Foutry
August 3rd, 2009 @ 11:33 pm
noticed something amiss on your delicious page. you're adding your own posts as favourites. that's a little dishonest, don't you think? unless your IE favourites is also full of your own links. which i doubt.
August 4th, 2009 @ 1:17 am
Ha Ha
Kedar I use Delicious to submit my posts to Desipundit – they accept link submissions via Delicious.
All my IE/Mozilla feeds are to keep track of blogs I read
August 18th, 2009 @ 12:14 am
Hmm. It's a snowball out there. When I get SMS promos/offers, I often delete them after reading two words.Push is out, pull is in.I guess brands shouldn't be the puny toffee shoved in front of my face, but the enticing cake I spot lying on the table!! Er, forgive moi, am hungry!!
August 27th, 2009 @ 7:34 am
December 2nd, 2009 @ 11:20 pm
Thanks for given a information of this.
December 3rd, 2009 @ 6:20 am
Thanks for given a information of this.